Luka
by Pen to Paper Writer
Summary: This story is based in part on Suzanne Vega's song "Luka" It deals with child abuse and goes to some dark places. If this is not your cup of tea I totally understand. While Kate, Rick and the boys are investigating a murder at an apartment building Rick notices that something is off with a boy in the next-door apartment.
1. Chapter 1

The call came in sometime around 1:13 pm on a Thursday. There was a murder in Chelsea. Beckett and Castle were dispatched along with Espo and Ryan to the address in Chelsea.

When they arrive it turns out to be a multi-unit apartment building. Kate had Javi and Kevin start a canvas as she and Castle went to the crime scene. It was nothing that they had not seen before being the veterans of similar crime scenes. Mrs. Garrett was lying on her kitchen floor in a puddle of her own blood from a knife wound to her neck. It seems that her husband had come home from work after an extremely bad day and reacted to one of her requests.

All she asked him was could he remove the trash and send it down the trash chute down the hall. It was a simple request and she said it without an accusing tone. That seemed to be the straw that broke Mr. Garrett's back. He calmly walked into their bedroom removed a .40 caliber Glock handgun from a lockbox in their bedroom closet that she knew nothing about and tucked it into his waistband of his pants. He made his way back into the kitchen where she was preparing dinner. He drew a very sharp 8-inch chef's knife from the knife block without alerting his wife, held her head steady from behind and then drew the knife across her throat severing her carotid artery. She was dead before her body hit the floor. Then as he watched the life drain from her eyes, he removed the Glock from his waistband and placed it against his temple and pulled the trigger blasting his brain matter and bone fragments all over the stove. He landed practically right next to his wife on the kitchen floor.

Kate and Rick looked to Lanie seeing if there was something that they might have missed by looking at the crime scene but the look on her face was one of sadness. Kate knew right then and there that this was an open and shut case.

"Lanie, keep me in the loop on this one. I'm writing this up as a murder/suicide."

"It looks like that's what this was. Call me in about two hours and I'll have more for you after I get the tox and drug screens back."

"Okay, Lanie."

Rick and Kate leave the apartment to the CSU techs and the coroner's crew get the bodies ready to be brought back to the morgue.

As they get ready to leave they enter the hallway where Ryan and Espo stop them right outside the adjacent apartment to the murders. They relay the results of the canvas that Kate had sent them on earlier. Nothing was found to be of any help in their investigation.

Rick is watching the surrounding area as Kate, Espo, and Ryan discuss their next move. Rick who is always aware of what is going around him notices a slightly cracked open door to the apartment next to the apartment they were called to. The door quickly shuts when he makes a move to see what might be happening there. Knowing that whatever this might be to aide the investigation he moves to the door and knocks.

He sees a small boy crack the door open.

"Hi. My name is Rick. What's yours?"

The boy is reluctant to give his name but he does motion to the apartment to his right.

"Are they okay in there?"

"No, I am afraid that something bad happened there. The police will not see this as a dispute."

"He took her life, didn't he?"

"That he did."

"My name is Luka."

"Hello Luka, I'm Rick."

Rick takes in the appearance of Luka. He can tell that something is going on within the apartment he lives in. Just as Rick was about to ask Luka a question there was yelling coming from the back of the apartment. It was a male voice and Rick saw the fear come over the boy's face and tears form in his eyes. Then he could hear the heavy footsteps of someone coming to the door at a fast pace. The man that came up behind Luka was large. He had arms that resembled very large trees. He said to Luka,

"How many times have I told ya not to open this damn door?"

Luka let go of the door and turned to leave but the man stops him by grabbing his shirt collar when he notices Rick standing there. He told him,

"We don't want nothing you selling! Now get the hell away from my door."

Espo was coming down the stairs and heard what the man said to Castle and he stood beside him and tried to explain about what happened next door, but the man only got that much more pissed off. Rick caught Luka's attention and the boy was shaking badly. Then the man said,

"Go to your room now!" Rick looked at Espo then at the man and before they could speak, he slammed the door in their face.

Kate had just turned the corner and heard the door slam. Curious as to what was going on she walks up to Rick and Javi and asks what happened.

"Guys, what happened here?"

Rick was always the talkative one but this time her question was answered by Javi.

"Kate, Rick was talking to a little kid in this apartment and when the father found out he hit the roof. He told us to leave and not so politely."

"Did he hear anything that happened next door?" She asks.

"We never got that far. The old man slammed the door in our faces." Espo says as he looks over to Rick.

Kate thinks about the situation deciding or not if she should talk to the man. Making up her mind she takes a step towards the door. It's then when she feels a hand on her shoulder stopping her forward movement. She turns and looks at Rick who now has a firm grip on her forearm as well.

"Rick?"

The look on his face was asking her to drop this, in fact, he was pleading with his eyes for her not to do anything at all. And she nodded her agreement but wondered why.

"Javi, you and Kevin finish up the canvas and meet us back at the 12th.

Xx

Kate racks her mind trying to find out exactly why Rick did not want her to intervene back at the apartment with the little boy. She starts her unit up and waits for Rick to fasten his seat belt before she moves. He does and she pulls away from the curb and into traffic. The ride is about ten minutes from where they are back to the 12th Precinct and during the trip looks oversee what he is thinking. But what she's met with is him just staring out the window at nothing. They're moving too fast for him to focus on any one thing and it looks like he is lost in thought. There are times when his face contorts with what could be pain from long ago but she doesn't know what he is thinking and he hasn't said a word since they got in the car.

Concerned for her partner, she pulls over not far from 12th Precinct. She glances over at him and sees that he's still in a very fragile state. Almost in a whisper, she tells him that they are going to walk the rest of the way back to the precinct. She doesn't want to scare him and he nodded his head still looking straight forward and getting out of the car.

"So what's going on Rick?"

Rick stopped in front of the precinct as he thinks over his answer. They made it to the fourth floor and he just stares at his partner as they sit at her desk. He knows she means well but there are some things that he's just not comfortable talking to her about yet.

"Kate I... I need to take care of a couple of things at home. Can we talk later?"

"Sure, Rick," Kate says as she reaches out for his hand and covers his with hers in a show of support.

"Thanks." Rick turns away breaking their connected hands and strides quickly to the elevator.

Kate looked at his retreating form. She wasn't buying his story, but she would give him the time he needed so she told him until tomorrow and he rushed to the elevator and left.

He is blocking the sun from his eyes when he sees a taxi dropping off a fare right in front of him. He grabs the taxi before it can pull away. He needs to get back to the apartment next to the crime scene before he's too late. The cab speeds away after he gives the driver the address.

Kate went over the last five minutes in her head and realized that Castle wasn't saying much. She knew at times he needed to think things through before he would express what was wrong so she would give him until the end of shift take him out for a drink and find out just what was on his mind. But before she could even ask, he stood up and said he was leaving that he had some editing to do for his last chapter. She knew that he was not telling her everything and so she would wait for him to come back.

Xx

The cab pulls up to the apartment building and he waits for a minute. If he is right, the man who slammed the door in his face will be leaving soon. And he knows exactly where he's going to. Rick waits until he shuffles down the stairs and starts walking away from the building. He sees a way into the building when an older lady is struggling to get her shopping cart up the stairs. He sees that the man he saw earlier is out of sight before he walks over to the older woman to help her. When he was finished helping the lady, he made a beeline to and knocked in rapid succession on Luka's door.

Inside he hears something being dragged across the floor. Then he realizes that it's Luka pulling over a chair to see out the peephole. When he does the chair is slid back and the door opens to the width of the safety chain.

"Luka? What happened to your eye?" Rick asked seeing his eye now turning black.

He answered almost in a whisper.

"Yes, I think I'm okay. I walked into the door again. If anyone asks that's what I'll say. It's not your business anyway Rick."

Rick was reliving what he experienced in his life when he was a kid. He could tell that Luka was beaten after Javi and he had asked questions about the murder earlier.

"Luka you and I both know exactly that's not what happened."

"Rick please go away. I will be in more trouble if he sees you here again."

Reluctantly Rick turned and left the apartment. He heard the door click shut and the deadbolt being thrown. He started down the stairs knowing that there would be trouble for Luka if that man saw him there. Rick knew that he would have to tell Kate at some time, but right now he couldn't stop thinking about Luka and the situation he could be in.

Xx

She had seen him at the building earlier and she knew that he was going to help. Gertie Willis watches as he passes her front door. She quickly opens it and asks if he would like some tea. She always had her tea at this time of the day Rick didn't want to be rude, but she said,

"You were here this morning with the police asking questions, it was a shame what happened to Mary. She was such a lovely girl and he never really was the friendly type. He had a mean streak in him he did."

Thinking to himself Rick figures that she was the information center for the building so he just jumped in and asked her about the little boy next door and a sadness came over her face and she shook her head.

"Poor Luka he's such a sweet child but lives with the devil himself offering him more tea she began to tell him about the little fella. He was just a few months old when he and his mom moved into the building. She was such a nice girl and her husband was in the armed service everything was good until he was deployed. He never made it back home. Luka was two at the time she worked and made a good life for them but being alone with a small child and being young herself she had a few friends from work and they'd go out. I loved keeping Luka he was a good baby. Then she met Mr. Wonderful. He was nice at first. He treated her and the boy fine until he moved in then everything changed You could hear the fighting and yelling. The next day you could see the bruises. Then about six months ago she was laid off from her job and he works when he wants to because he is still getting the benefits from the state. He leaves Luka alone for days at a time and sometimes when he does, I bring him over here give him a bath, clean his clothes, and feed him. He is an angel. He has seen and heard things no child his age should ever face. She held her head down Rick saw the tears in her eyes and asked what was wrong.

"I hear his cries at night for his momma to be safe and survive the beating he knows that she is getting. I've never said this to anyone cause's they think I'm crazy but I know that he killed her out of spite. He really hated Luka and he killed her for that I bet my pension on it."

Xx

Rick walked away from the apartment building with one thought in his head. And that was to keep Luka safe. But he needed to come clean with Kate before he could do anything. He checked one last time on Luka's apartment and found that his adoptive father was not home yet. He had a while before he returned and he would be ready. But what really threw him was that another crime had taken place in the same apartment building and nothing was done about it.

Xx

Rick knows that he needs to tell Kate everything. He knows that she will see him as a weak man and not want to have anything to do with him ever again after he tells her what he needs to tell her. Then he remembers that she held his hand at the precinct. Maybe she does understand. That was the first time that she ever had shown affection towards him in public. He tracks down a cab and soon he is heading back home.

Xx

_**Two Days Later…**_

Rick had been sitting in a rental car outside the apartment to keep an eye on Luka. He knew it was crazy, but he just couldn't get it out of his mind and it brought back the memories that he thought were buried from so long ago and that is now haunting him. He had a P.I. friend do a background check on the man who was in the apartment with Luka. His name is Jack Thompson and he was discharged from the Marines with a mental disability and that had him even more worried. It was time for him to go to Kate and hope she will understand and help.

_**12th Precinct…**_

It had been two days since Kate had seen or talked to him and when she called it went straight to voice mail she was getting concerned something about the case was bothering him, but they had wrapped it up the other day. Today was just a paper workday to officially close out the case. She would glance at his chair wondering what was going on with him.

Xx

Since he was on his impromptu stakeout, he hadn't shaved in the two days he's been on watch, but he needs to talk to Kate so shaving would have to wait along with other things. He takes one last look at the apartment building and prays that nothing will happen to Luka.

Xx

Kate had just filed her last report and was getting ready to leave. Captain Montgomery told them that they could leave for the day when their reports were done. Just as she was putting on her jacket her desk phone started to ring, she picked up

"Beckett" She answered.

The voice on the other end of the phone sounded so tired she knew it was Rick.

"What's wrong Rick?"

"Kate I need to talk to you it's important."

"Well, you're in luck Castle. We just finished up the paperwork on our last case. I was just about to walk out the door."

"Can we talk at your place?

"Sure. Is thirty minutes okay?"

"See you then."

_**Kate's Apartment…**_

Rick was pacing outside her door. He had stopped to pick up some food and a bottle of wine. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on Kate's door.

She knew it was him, but when she opens the door what she saw had her heart sinking inside her chest. His eyes showed that he hadn't slept in a while and his face had more than a day's growth on it. This wasn't her Rick. She backed up to let him in and she closed the door and locked it behind them.

He walks to the kitchen to put the food down and when he turned around Kate just wrapped her arms around him and held him close and tight and for the first time in two days he broke and the tears fell. He was sobbing uncontrollably but quietly. She let him have this because she knew that he needed it.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

She let him get everything out of his system. After about twenty minutes of them standing together, Kate took his hand and lead him to the sofa behind the coffee table. She had never seen him act like this ever. He was always the person who was supportive of her needs or anyone's really and she never thought about how badly he must have been hurting by keeping all this bottled up inside for so long. It took him about an hour and a half before he was able to string together a complete sentence. She needed to do one thing and one thing only and that was to simply to be his friend. So, all her training as a cop, first responder, and especially a detective went right out the window. She took his hand in hers intertwined their fingers together. About an hour had passed when he looked her right the eyes and started to talk.

"Kate, at first, I was reluctant and maybe a little embarrassed about telling you what I'm about to tell you now. My life growing up was no picnic. And adding insult to injury I was not the ideal child that my mother hoped she had. I literally was caught doing things that should not have been done at school. Harmless pranks like putting a frog in the teacher's drawer, imbedding chalk in erasers, placing tacks on the teacher's chair. These were tame things that I did, but no matter what my mother always found out. But in the end, I paid for it in more ways than one."

Kate could tell by the tone in his voice that this was going to be an in-depth conversation, so she raised her hand to stop him so she could get them a couple of bottled waters. When she came back she could tell that he was thankful for the water because he practically drank half of the first bottle.

"My mother would work odd jobs to earn money to keep a roof over our heads and at the same time, she would audition for lead roles or even supporting roles for Broadway plays. Those roles were far and few between and we relied mostly on a waitressing job she was able to get. She also cleaned people's homes, worked as a paralegal, and found the time to work as a temp for an agency. When I was growing up I was a class clown of sorts. I would make fun of other people just to get a laugh and if I knew then what I know now I would have never done half the stuff I did. But my mother realized that she could never guide me in the way I was supposed to be a model student. So along with her odd job's she also had a flavor of the week so to say in the men she saw. Each time that she came home with a new beau, she would introduce me and I would be polite. Most of the time they were just interested in her and they wanted nothing to do with me at all. Which was good on my part because I was in my own little world. I did what I wanted to do and nobody bothered me. That was until Chris came around. Chris was a little bit younger than my mother by about five to ten years. I never knew exactly how old he was but I was about seven or maybe eight. I can't really remember because I try to block out most of what happened during that time. Chris would 'entertain' my mother until she fell asleep. And after she had sex she slept heavily. Chris, at first, was cool. He understood what it was like to be a kid all alone in the world."

"So I'm guessing Chris was a wolf in sheep's clothing," Kate asked.

"You could say that Kate. But Chris was more into mind games. At first, when he started dating my mother, he was all about becoming my friend. And it's not that I didn't mind having him as a friend, it just felt kinda weird because he was older than I was. Way older. He came across as someone who would go the extra mile to see that you were taking care of. But then about after three months of him seeing my mother the game changed.

"What did he do?"

"He started with belittling me. He'd tell me to do something and after I did it, he would look at what I did and he immediately found something wrong with whatever it was he told me to do. Then he started in with the degrading comments. Things like your little bastard, you're a waste of sperm, you take up too much air you aren't good enough to clean my shoes. The first time he hit me it was more like a swat to the back of my head. Not too hard but boy I felt it. It only got worse from that point on. He would ask me something about how much money my mother had around the house or where does she keep her cash. My answer to him was that I didn't know where she kept it and that was the truth. I was seven for chrissake but I knew he wanted to take her money so he didn't believe me. In our small apartment, we had a two-burner gas range. What he would do was drag me over to the stove ask me the question one more time and of course I told him that I don't know where she kept her money, he called me a liar and liars should be punished. Then he turned on one of the burners closer to the front of the stove. He then grabbed my wrist held my hand over the flames until I told him where the money was. The only problem with that is that I was not lying to him and I came away with second-degree burns on the palm of my left hand." Rick absentmindedly raises his hand for Kate to see.

Kate sees how his hand is discolored from the burn.

"Rick I never knew..."

"How could you Kate? I've never told anyone this and that includes my mother."

_**Later that night…**_

"LUKA! How did that chair get moved?" His stepfather yelled.

_**Kate's Apartment…**_

They had finished eating the meal he had brought with him and started exchanging small talk to avoid the serious talk they just shared. Kate the first to speak. She wanted Rick to know how she felt but she did not want him to think that she thought any less of him because he was a child being abused by an adult. Rick had tried to avoid looking her in the eyes. But she was having none of that nonsense. She put her finger under his chin to lift it so there was direct eye to eye contact between them. What he saw wasn't the pity he thought he would, but instead he sees a warm and caring glow in her eyes. Kate started speaking to show him just how she felt. If he could bare his soul of the most painful part of his life, she could fight the fear she has about being more with him. She called his name and that caught his attention she went on to say,

"Rick, I know that I'm not the easiest person to get along with, and I don't always say what's on my mind, but I want you to know that I am trying to change for the better." She had to admit that she wanted to be more than friends with him and as she was trying to figure out how to say that to him when his phone started to ring.

Just as Rick was about to answer her his phone started ringing. She motioned to him to answer it. Rick could barely make out what the person was saying so he asked them to calm down and speak slowly. What he heard made his stomach drop it was Ms. Gertie she was yelling "he's beating Luka, he's screaming he's going to kill him. Please come over here now! I called 911 but they are still not here." Gertie said as she told him between sobs. Rick told her he was on the way. He looked at Kate and told her he's beating Luka. Kate grabs her jacket, keys, and her service weapon and they ran out of the apartment to the car. Kate called Espo to meet them at the apartment building as back up. The car hadn't come to a full stop before Rick was out and into the building what he saw broke his heart and made him mad as hell.

Xx

Rick gave up the elevator for the stairs and took three at a time to get to the second floor. Upon reaching the landing on the second floor he started running towards Luka's apartment. Before he could move into the apartment, he ran head-on into the very muscle-bound Javier Esposito who was blocking the doorway.

"Castle take a bit of friendly advice, stay here in the hallway. It's better if you hang out here for now."

By the time Kate had reached where Javi and Rick were, she could tell that it was bad. Javi had blocked anybody from coming into the apartment until Kate got there. Ryan had Luka's stepfather in handcuffs standing out in the middle of the hallway away from the apartment.

Kate was getting the rundown from Javi and he moved to the left just a little bit so she could peek in to see what had happened inside the apartment.

What she saw immediately made her stomach roll. She had seen a lot in her career but this should have never happened to a 7-year-old boy. Before she could let Rick know what had happened the EMTs were rolling up with a stretcher to pick up Luka.

While Kate was watching the EMT's Rick had moved away from the apartment doorway. He was walking towards Ryan and the look that he had on his face was one of anger and rage. He might not have seen what happened to Luca but he was about to take matters into his own hands and impart his own justice for the little boy.

If it's one thing Ryan doesn't want to face it's a very pissed off Richard Castle. He can tell he's pissed off just by the way he is walking down the hallway raising up the sleeves of his shirt to the elbows. Defensively Ryan turns the stepfather away from the oncoming thread that is Richard Castle. But this move is useless because Rick just plows over Ryan and gets to the man with little effort.

The stepfather never really had a chance if it were not for Javi. Rick had about seventy-five pounds on the man. Then there was the height advantage. You could see that Rick had every advantage even if the man was uncuffed. Javi simply raised his hand and pulled Rick back towards him then put him in a double shoulder lock and brings him to the ground easily. In twenty seconds of being restrained Rick stopped trying to get out of the hold.

"Bro, this is for your own good. You don't want to be getting arrested over some scumbag like this." Javi told him.

All Rick could do was nod. It was then when Kate came up behind him and gently touched Javi's shoulder. Seeing her there, he let him go and then they both stood back up.

Ryan had already taken the suspect out to the car so Rick would not have any temptation whatsoever of beating the shit out of this guy. Kate had coaxed Rick back to the apartment where Luka was. Just as they reached the entryway they had to move to the side because the EMTs were coming out with Luka on the stretcher. He was unconscious and his face looks like it was used as a punching bag. They had already started an IV and his neck was in a neck collar just as a precaution.

"Where are you taking him?" Rick asked.

"Beth Israel." The EMT replied.

Before he could say anything else, they were wheeling him out. He turned and looked at Kate and all she could do was not her head. They were out of the building and in the car. Soon they were following the ambulance as it pulled away.

A/N: One chapter to go.  
Special thanks to Dreamwriter08 who is my voice of reason.


	3. Chapter 3

If it's one thing that he hated more than hospitals; it was the fact that a 7-year-old boy was fighting for his life in this one. They arrived before the ambulance did carrying Luka.

Kate had tried to calm him down during the ride to the hospital and she thought she did a pretty good job just being there for him. It wasn't until they got inside the emergency room waiting area where he started to pace back and forth aimlessly most likely blaming himself.

"Rick please sit with me. You won't hear anything until the doctors finish their assessment of Luka." Kate told him.

He stopped pacing and looked her in the eye and said,

"Kate, I am the reason that he is in that triage room right now being put back together."

"How do you figure that Rick? What were you going to do? Keep watch over the apartment until something bad happened? And what would you do if something did happen? You can't just go in there half-cocked with guns blazing and save the day. Sometimes it doesn't work out the way we want it to."

"I could have done something earlier that maybe would have stopped him from getting hurt again. Because I know he's the kind of person who does this repeatedly. This guy is just like Chris. He takes advantage of little kids and he thinks that he is a God. I bet if we did a complete workup on Luka, we'd find injuries dating back to when he was about four years old. Broken bones that did not heal right, scars from cuts, being tortured and I don't even want to think how badly his head will be screwed up, especially when he gets older."

She knew that he was right. Luka had been abused since he was a small child. That in itself hit Kate hard. And if it did that to her, she can just imagine what it must be doing to Rick. On his next lap by she pulls him down into the seat and interlocks her fingers with his. He comes willingly and she thinks she hears him quietly crying. She dislodges their hands and wraps her arm around his shoulder pulling him closer into her body.

He cares for her and he appreciates the way she is opening up to him because it is something that she's never done with him before. She has shown him that there is a side to her that he has never been privy to. He closes his eyes only for a second and due to his exhaustion, he slips into a light sleep leaning up against her.

Kate looks down at his sleeping form. She knew that it would not take him that long before he fell asleep. He was up almost 48 hours watching Luka's apartment sitting in the rental car. She gently cards her fingers through his hair soothing him. She is in love with him and she needs to tell him how she feels before he thinks that she is making him wait. She isn't. It's tough on her part because she has never been in love before with any man. But she is glad that he did wait for her and before the sun sets today, they will have a quiet, intimate conversation. She can only hope that Luka is going to be okay.

It's about two hours later when a doctor comes out of the triage room and stops in front of Kate.

"Detective Beckett?" The doctor asks as he looks down at her.

Kate must have fallen asleep while she was holding Rick. She woke easily because the sleep she was in was very light.

"Yes, Doctor Nelson."

"I need to know your and Mr. Castle's blood types."

Kate went immediately to the worst-case scenario. Luka was in trouble and he was not going to survive. She tried to remain calm so she didn't wake up Rick.

"My blood type is A-negative. I'm not sure what Mr. Castle's is."

"O-Negative," Castle says in a sleep laden voice.

"Detective, I would like to ask if you would give me a vial of blood for screening purposes?"

"We are the same blood type me and Luka?" Kate says as she shakes her head agreeing to the screening.

"You are. Please follow me."

Rick looks to Kate and he lifts his head off her shoulder. He watches as she goes to the lab and hopes that Luka is going to be okay.

Sitting and waiting are two things Castle has never been able to do and his writer's imagination has him thinking about the worse case that can happen and now the doctor has taken Kate for blood work. What is going on with Luka?

Xx

They took five vials of Kate's blood and she wondered why they needed so many. She thought that screening was just a vial or two, not five. She found out why later.

As Dr. Wilson enters the lab, he starts speaking to Kate asking her questions about family history. Questions like has anyone had any medical issues specifically heart issues. Kate looks at the doctor and said,

"As far as I know Dr. Wilson everyone in my family is the picture of health. My aunt Theresa had an angina attack once but that was brought on by stress. Since then she's been okay."

He went over the checklist for all the possible medical issues that could be an issue. He went over the list and she answered no to all his questions.

Then the detective in her started to ask questions. That's when he told her that not only was she a blood match to Luka, but they shared Familia DNA. She and Luka were related. Kate couldn't understand how she was related to the little boy. She never knew of Luka or his mother three days ago so how could they be family. Dr. Wilson told her it was on her father's side. She told the doctor that she would find out, but to do what he needed to do to help Luka.  
_**  
**__**Waiting Room**__**…**_

Castle was pacing when he saw Kate coming around the corner and the look on her face he had never seen before. He automatically went to the worst-case scenario. Oh god, did her blood work shows some type of illness? Is she alright?

Kate sat down in one of the chairs right next to him and she just looked at Rick. He was the one to speak first.

"Kate, what's wrong? Are you okay did they find something in your lab work?" Then he reached towards her hand and pulled it into his. The gentle touch brought her back to the here and now. He asked again if there was anything wrong and she, seeing the concern in his eyes, told him she was fine.

"Rick, the doctor told me that I am a match for Luka and that I would need to give some blood so the doctor can start the surgery. He needs to have a partial resection of his liver and a drain put in the back of his head to reduce the swelling of his brain. He has two broken ribs and some internal bleeding. But, there's something else. Not only was I a match for Luka so he could have blood, but somehow my DNA came up as a 92% match that Luka and I are family and it is on my father's side."

Rick and Kate sit back and wait for the doctor to return to call Kate back to the lab. They are both lost in their thoughts about how she could be related to Luka.

Xx

After waiting two more hours for any word on Luka, Esposito and Ryan came and told them that Luka's stepfather confessed to beating Luka and killing his mother. But he won't tell them where the body is unless he gets a deal.

Kate and Rick both shake their heads telling the boys that there is no deal to be had.

"Either he tells us where he hid her body or he will be in general population up in Attica," Kate tells the boys.

Having their orders they leave the waiting room and head back to the 12th Just then Dr. Wilson came up to them he said Luka was out of surgery.

"Kate, Rick I have resected Luka's liver, the internal injuries and bleeding were also repaired, and the broken ribs would have to heal naturally. What we are watching is his head. His brain showed some blood pooling near the base of the skull. If the drain we put in does its job he will be up and around in no time. He's young and if things go as I hope they will, he'll make a full recovery.

_**Intensive Care Unit…**_

He looked so small lying in the bed. All the wires that were leading from his little body made him look that much smaller. They let both Rick and Kate see him. After seeing him, Kate knew that Rick wouldn't leave him. She led him down the hall not far from Luka's room and she told him to stay with Luka. She would be back in about two hours. She was going to talk to her Dad and see what progress the boys had made on the case. She surprised herself when she stood on her toes and covered his lips with hers in a deep kiss. Rick didn't think about what she was doing, he just deepened the kiss. They step back to take in some air and she saw that he had that lop-sided grin on his face. She brushed his cheek with the palm of her hand and tells him that she would be back soon.

_**Jim Beckett's house**_

Kate was still sitting in the car outside of her dad's home thinking about how to talk to her father about Luka. The most important issue was that he was family. Kate rang the bell shifting from foot to foot then the door opened. Her dad looked surprised but happy that she was there for a visit. He took her coat when she walked into the foyer and hung it in the closet. Then he saw her eyes and he knew something was wrong. They both sat on the sofa and then Jim spoke.

"Katie, what's happened to Rick? Is he okay?"

"He's fine dad. But there is something else that I need to talk to you about." Kate said.

"What is it, Katie?"

"I need to ask you something very important and I need the truth!"

Jim looked at her for a moment then he said,

"Katie why do you think I wouldn't tell you anything but the truth."

"Dad I have something to tell you, but let me finish before you ask your questions"

She explained everything about the case and how Rick and Espo met Luka and how his stepfather treated them, so Rick went back to see if there was anyone who'd heard anything in the apartment next door. When Castle knocked on the door, Luka cracked it open he had a black eye. He told Rick to leave because he would get in trouble so gave his card to a neighbor Ms. Gertie. She called Rick tonight and told him that the stepfather was beating Luka."

"Katie that's terrible. Is the little boy okay?

"Dad I have seen a lot, but the way he looked even made me sick. He's only seven years old."

"It took a lot for Espo to pull Rick off of him. I think he would have hurt him really bad if Ryan hadn't moved him out of the apartment complex and into the back of the car. Castle and I got to the hospital before the bus got there and they took him right into surgery. Dad the way he looked when they rolled him in..." Kate paused to collect her thoughts. "He needed blood so we gave mine because I was a match. The doctor needed to run another test and asked me about my family's medical history. When the test was done the results showed that Luka and I share almost the same DNA markers. How's that possible Dad?"

"Katie, you know that I would never cheat on your mother. God rest her soul. But there is only one reasonable explanation as to how you and Luka have almost the same DNA. You have an uncle, my brother who long ago was very careless with the women he had sex with. Is nothing that I'm proud of really, I'm ashamed of him if you want the truth. But he had a string of women that he slept with and that could be Luka's mother. That was years ago before he died."

"Dad, Luka's stepfather killed his mother. He's asking for a deal and then he'll tell us where the body is buried. I'm not sure if making a deal with him is the right thing to do."

"Then don't. Investigate. There has to be some evidence that can implicate him. Have you filed for a search warrant for his property?"

"Esposito and Ryan did. I should get going. I need to see what progress they have made."

"Katie, if Lukas's mother is dead, and his stepfather is going to jail for murder and child abuse you do know that you could very well be his next of kin." Her father says as he gets her coat.

"I know dad and I need to talk to Rick about this. I just left him to come here to ask you about the DNA test."

"Good luck bug."

"Thanks, dad."

_**12**__**th**__** precinct…**_

"We're going to go over this one more time. You're trying to tell me that your wife slipped and fell in the bathtub cracked her head open on the edge of the tub and died due to drowning?"

"Yes."

"You know I've heard it all. But for some reason, I just don't believe what you're trying to sell me." Ryan told their suspect.

"Neither do I. I think you're lying through your teeth just to save your skin. What I think happened is that you got a little too hands on with your wife, beat her senseless and then without knowing it you killed her with your bare hands. Was that rage? Or was it just you beating up on a defenseless young woman?" Espo asked.

Ryan took out pictures of Luka and spread them out in front of the stepfather on the table. He made sure that he saw the damage he had done to a 7-year-old boy.

"Place your hands on the table. I am going to cuff you to the bolt until we return." Espo told the stepfather.

Espo cuffs the man tightly so he has to be reminded of his crime in picture form. They both get up and leave the interrogation room and ten seconds later they are stepping into the observation room adjacent to the interrogation room two. Once the door is closed Espo starts.

"What do you think Kate?"

She looks at Luka's stepfather through the two-way glass and sees what he's looking at on the table. She can tell he looks disgusted at what he sees.

"Guys, he's guilty of abusing Luka. But that charge doesn't draw as much time in prison as murder does. The warrant came in to search his house, car, and any common area that we can think of. Turn up the heat in interrogation two and let him stew for a little bit. While he is suffering, I need you to go to his house and search it top to bottom. Leave nothing unturned."

"On it, Beckett." The boys say together.

Espo and Ryan are out of the observation room and onto the elevator to their car downstairs. Kate still watches through the glass as he seems to take a little pride in what he has done to his stepson. She hopes that her boys can find something to nail this bastard with.

Xx

Rick has not left Luka's bedside since he was returned to the ICU room following his surgery. He watched him like a hawk. There was no way anyone would harm this little boy again; he would lay down his life to stop it.

"Mr. Castle, my name is Zoe. I am the nurse assigned to monitor and care for Luka. I can tell you this much he is a fighter."

"Hello, Zoe. I hope that he will be able to wake up soon. I need to talk to him."

"I am going to start weaning him off the post-surgery meds. He should be coming out of it in the morning. The nurse who will relieve me at six am will make sure he is well taken care of. Her name is Deb. She is a great nurse."

"I sure hope that he can recover from the surgery quickly. I am going to stay the night if that's possible, I don't want to leave his side."

"That's fine Mr. Castle. As I understand it, he doesn't have anybody to watch over him. Later I can set you up with a blanket and a comfortable pillow."

"Thank you, Zoe, I would appreciate it."

Zoe tries to make Luca comfortable by fluffing his pillow. Then she gives Rick a wink and she's out the door on to her next patient. Rick watches Luka as he sleeps. He looks like he is dreaming and he can tell that whatever he is dreaming is not good. He is starting to toss and turn and wanting him to calm down a little Rick places his hand on Luka's forehead to calm him down. It has the desired effect.

Xx

Failure is not an option for either of them. They will find something to get a convection. Whatever they find will be entered into evidence and preserved to guarantee an outcome that they can live with. The warrant they have gives them the right to search anything they please nothing is off-limits. As they pull up to the house, Espo and Ryan decide to break the apartment up into two sections. Kevin will search one side, and Javi we will search the other side. It takes them just shy of four hours to search the entire apartment. The only thing they came up with was a pair of handcuffs and a nickel bag of cocaine. Since they have the stepfather in custody Esposito had told the beat cops that they could go back to the 12th. There was no longer a need for them to be here guarding the apartment.

Just as they were about to leave, the building superintendent came up to the apartment.

"I just wanted to know if you guys were getting ready to leave yet?"

"Yes, we're just about finished here since there's nothing else we can go through."

The super took out his keys to lock up the apartment as Espo and Ryan walked into the hallway. Then he had a thought.

"Wait, you guys do know about the storage space down in the basement that's for this apartment don't you? Each apartment has one."

When the super said that, both detective's eyes got wide, really wide.

"Can you show us where this storage unit is?" Kevin asked.

All three of them were down in the basement less than five minutes later. They found a secured storage area with a master padlock on a hasp. It didn't take much to break off the lock. Most of what was in the storage unit were boxes of old clothes, suitcases, some small appliances, baby furniture, an old twin bed with box spring and mattress, and some older toys that must have been Lukas. What had both their attention is the steamer trunk that sat in the corner of the storage unit covered with a tarp. Esposito moved over to the trunk took all the toys off the top of it and pulled off the tarp. The lock was unlocked so to open it was to simply push a button and the hasp sprung free. Both men had examination gloves on and Ryan lifted the lid of the steamer trunk. What sat inside the trunk was a garbage bag tied off at the top with a rope. Kevin untied the knot in the rope that was keeping the bag closed. He slid the top of the bag down and what they found where the partially mummified remains of a woman who look to be in her mid-thirties. The second Esposito looked at Ryan he knew they had the evidence they needed to put away Luka's father for the rest of his life. Espo high fived Ryan and they started to catalog the evidence they found in the storage unit. The M.E. was called and when Lanie arrived she was sad that Luka had lost his mother. She would need to perform a complete autopsy before she could tell Kate the actual cause of death.

Xx

"Tell me that you found something… anything." Kate asked her boys when they returned to the bullpen.

"We did! We hit pay dirt, that bastard will be going away for a very long time." Espo told her.

"This is good news guys! What did you find?"

"Mrs. Benton." Espo gave her the grim news and Kate understood what they meant.

"Lanie will give us her report tomorrow morning after she completes the autopsy," Ryan said.

Kate who now can twist the screws to Mr. Benton gets up from her desk and walks over to her partner's desks.

"Who wants to come with me and break the news to Luka's stepfather?"

Kate, Ryan, and Espo enter the interrogation room. Espo and Ryan take a seat across from Harry Benton, Luka's stepfather. Kate opted to stand because she thinks better on her feet. His eyes never left the two men sitting across from him.

"Mr. Benton, we will be charging you with murder in the first degree. We found your wife. All I need from you is a signed confession."

"Bullshit! You didn't find squat, and I ain't signing nothing."

Kate nodded to Ryan who pulled his tablet from his jacket. He scrolled through the pictures he took of the crime scene and stopped at a picture of his wife that had a picture of her wedding band. It matched his wedding band perfectly. After seeing this Mr. Benton's face dropped a little but there was more. Ryan then showed him a picture of his deceased wife's neck. Hanging from it was a neckless that had a personalized name on it. It was silver and read 'Luka'.

"We have you dead to rights. There will be no deal to be had. We are going to throw the book at you, Mr. Benton." Kate said.

"Espo get this piece of shit down to central booking and get him in the system. The charges are murder in the first, child abuse, and whatever else we can think up."

"No problem Beckett it'll be my pleasure."

Espo uncuffs Mr. Benton and removes him from the interrogation room. They head to booking and from there he will be sent to Rikers until his trial date. What Mr. Benton doesn't understand is that when he is booked under child abuse charges, he will be in for a world of hurt. The hardened cons at Rikers or where ever he will serve his time look upon his type of crime as the lowest of the low. The cons will beat him to within an inch of his life. And when he recovers from his injuries, they will do it all over again.

Xx

Esposito had a soft spot for Luka. Even though he tries to play the tough guy all the time, he knows where Luka is coming from because he has been there. He sees Castle as he steps into the room where Luca is recovering from his surgery. It's early, around 5:30 AM but he wanted to come and see the little guy before he had to go to work. Rick was true to his word. He stayed there all night never once leaving his side. And this is how he finds Castle, sleeping with his head on the mattress next to Luka. Esposito takes in the sight and just watches both of them. Rick was the one to see that he was being abused and did something about it. He wonders what will happen to the boy now. He hopes that he's not just thrown into the DCS system with no help at all. It would be easy for someone like him to fall between the cracks. But he knows that he did his part. Because of him and Ryan, Luka will have his justice.

Xx

Rick hears the soft click of the door. He knows who was just here by the scent of his cologne. He always thought Espo had a soft spot and now he knows for sure. Rick raises his head and takes a look to see how Luka is doing. He should be coming out of his drug-induced haze soon now. He just hopes that he is not afraid to be in the same room with him.

Xx

She's running late because she decided to get coffee for herself and Rick. She parks the car in an official parking spot for police vehicles and she puts her placard on the dash to identify her reason for being there. She parked next to a blue unmarked unit but she doesn't know who's is it is until she walked through the entrance doors. She sees Esposito trying to sneak out the side door without being seen but she knows it's him and she lets it go for now. Kate flashes her badge at the nurse sitting at the desk and she just waves her in no questions asked. By the time she arrives at Luka's room, she hears light laughter. The scene she sees when she opens the door and walks in the room melts her heart. Rick is making funny faces at Luka and he is giggling. He is contorting his face to make him laugh and she can't help to laugh along with Luka.

Rick senses her before he sees her. He turns to look at her still with a goofy face in place and he sees that she is laughing. He's glad that she is, her job demands a lot from her and she needs to let loose at times.

"Hey, Kate."

"Hi, Rick. How is our patient feeling?"

"He's doing good. Some post-surgery soreness, but other than that his spirits are high." Rick says as he looks over to Luka who nods in agreement.

"Rick there something I need to talk to you about, and it involves Luka. I would like to do it away from small ears if you know what I mean."

Rick nods and he tells Luka he will be right back. Once they are out in the hallway Kate tells Rick her news.

"Rick I have to tell you what Dr. Nelson found when he ran his tests. I found out how I am related to Luka. It seems that my uncle was very free with the women he slept with. He is how I am related to Luka."

"That's good then right? He will be able to take Luka home when he is discharged and give him the care he needs."

"Rick, he passed away about three years ago. So no, he won't be able to take Luka. But I might be able to. Since we are a blood relation DCS might grant me custody. What do you think?"

"Wait, Kate, what are you asking me?"

"I know that this is sudden and out of left field, but would you consider taking me and Luka in as house guests at the loft?"

Rick looked at her and could see that she had given her question a lot of thought and that she was also very sincere.

"Are you sure that you will gain custody? I am kind of attached to him, Kate. I need to make sure that he is taken care of. By whoever that is, be it you, or DCS."

"Rick, I need you with me if I decide to do this but we do it together. I think that we can make what we have work as a family. I know that there is Alexis to consider but I'm willing to take the chance that she will love having a little brother."

"Kate, don't you know that Alexis looks up to you? She would know that you'd never let Luka fall back into the clutches of the DCS. She'd want you and Luka to stay with us, and so would I."

Kate gave what she thought was her best puppy dog eyes to Rick hoping that he would consider them staying with him and Alexis. She watches his face change from happy to sad to happy again. Then without warning turns and walks away from her. She watches as he crosses the hall, summon the elevator gets on and as the door closes in front of him, he gives her the smile he only gives to her. She stands there waiting not knowing what to do because there's nobody else here with her. After about 5 minutes standing in the hallway, she decides to go see Luka. The second she enters his room he smiles at her. He remembers her from the other day Rick and the other person stopped to ask if he heard anything about what happened next door.

"Hi, Luka. My name is Kate. How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts a little, and my chest feels funny."

"I can tell you about what happened if you'll let me."

Luka nods.

"Your stepfather hit you in the head too many times and this caused your brain to swell a little. The doctor put a drain in the back of your head so the swelling would stop and your brain would recover quicker. You have some broken ribs and that's why your chest feels funny. The doctor says you should be here for another two to four days and then you'll be coming home with me and Rick."

"What about my house the one where Ms. Gertie lives?"

"You're not going to be living there anymore. So, all the bad things that happened there are in the past. You're going to start a fresh new life with two people who really care about you. And if you didn't know it, you have a sister, a big sister to be exact."

"I do?" Lukas's eyes were as big as saucers.

"You do."

"Wow wee."

Just then the door pushed open and in came a very out of breath Richard Castle. He walked over to the side of the bed where Kate was sitting and stops directly in front of her. The next thing she saw him do was to get down on his right knee. He was fumbling with something in his left pocket and as he pulls it out her hand automatically went to her mouth to stop the gasp she knew was going let go.

"Katherine Houghton Beckett will you be my wife?"

Now she understands where he went when he left her in the hallway. He went to the jewelry store not far from the hospital. The things this man will do for her.

"Why, I'd love to be your wife Mr. Richard Edgar Castle."

Rick removes the two-carat ring from the velvet-lined box and places it on Kate's ring finger. Luka who had been watching the whole scene play out in front of him wonders what was going to happen to him now. Rick and Kate who had looked over to the little boy knew they needed to explain what was going to happen next.

"Luka, there's good news and there's bad news. The good news is that you would no longer be living with your stepfather. If you agree you will be living with me and Rick. He has a very big apartment that I think you'll love the second you walk into it. Your stepfather will no longer do the things he did to you we will make sure that no one will hurt you the way he did ever again."

Luka could only smile brightly.

"The bad news is that your stepfather will be going to prison for a long, long time."

Kate had thought about telling Luka what had happened to his mother but decided not to until he was a little older. She wouldn't keep it from him but she doesn't want to add to the amount of stress that he already has. She'll tell him when he's ready.

_**One year later at Upstate Correctional Facility in Franklin, N.Y. …**_

He thought it was bad enough when he was at Rikers but it seems that the inmate network has spread the word about what he did to Luka. He was only beaten for about three minutes at Rikers but the cons managed to make every one of those minutes count. He left there with a broken nose, missing three teeth, and a broken wrist and forearm. He thinks it was a shank that was used on his back and now he has to pee into a bag that ties around his waist. He was transferred to the Upstate Correctional Facility right after his trial. He was found guilty of murder in the first degree, child abuse, and tampering with evidence. The second he checked in at the upstate Correctional Facility he was put in the general population. He knew right then and there he was a dead man.

_**Two weeks later…**_

To make things easy on himself he took a job in the prison that would keep the cons office back, or so he thought. It happened one night after a long twelve hours of doing laundry for the prison. He was in his cell on the top bunk and what he found odd was that his cellmate was nowhere to be found. It was beyond lights out and he can't figure out where he went. He was about to turn over to go to sleep when he heard voices outside of his cell. It didn't take long for him to figure out what was going to happen next. The lock electronically buzzed and the lock unlocked. The cons slid his cell door open. It was a funny thing because they were carrying socks. It wasn't until they got closer that he realized there was something very heavy at the end of those socks.

"Welcome to your blanket party." The one inmate whispered.

Then four men of the ten that were there threw a blanket over the top bunk and him and used their weight to hold the blanket over him so he couldn't get away. Then the other six cons, three on each side started beating on him with the one-pound steel balls that work at the end of the socks. It made an effective weapon and on that night Mr. Benton who once abused his stepson, and murdered his wife, would take his last breath at the hands of the cons who were killing him.

_**Three months after the demise of Mr. Benton…**_

"Luka, come on downstairs. It's time for dinner." Kate yells up to their son.

It wasn't a minute later when Alexis was chasing Luka down the stairs. They made it to the table and Luka came to a sudden stop and broke out in a smile at what he saw on the table. Rick, Kate, and Alexis have been planning this surprise for him for the last two weeks. Luka moves cautiously over to where the cake is sitting on the table. He leans over and reads what the top of the cakes says and his smile grows even larger. He is tempted to swipe his finger on the top of the cake to taste the icing. But as his hand moves towards the top of the cake Kate stops him by saying,

"No taste testing mister. You get to eat your birthday cake after we eat dinner."

"Come on mom, you know dad always takes forever to finish what's on his plate."

Alexis who is not helping matters at all nods her head and agrees with Luka.

"Dinner first, then birthday cake and presents later. And you better finish everything on your plate."

"Mom!" Luka sulks.

"You only turn eight once, and I want to be ready with the camera so let's go."

Rick places Luka's favorite dish on the table, spaghetti and meatballs with traditional red meat sauce and a loaf of toasted Italian garlic bread. Things have changed drastically since he came home from the hospital with them. He's been introduced to different types of foods and he likes a lot of them. He now has friends that he didn't have before. And a big sister who helps him as much as she can as he tries navigating through his busy life. Things are good now and he loves it here.

_**Fin**_

_**These are the lyrics to Luka by Suzanne Vega. It's a great song so if you have the time watch the video. Without this song, this story would not have been possible.  
**_

My name is Luka  
I live on the second floor  
I live upstairs from you  
Yes I think you've seen me before

If you hear something late at night  
Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight  
Just don't ask me what it was  
Just don't ask me what it was  
Just don't ask me what it was

I think it's because I'm clumsy  
I try not to talk too loud  
Maybe it's because I'm crazy  
I try not to act too proud

They only hit until you cry  
After that you don't ask why  
You just don't argue anymore  
You just don't argue anymore  
You just don't argue anymore

Yes, I think I'm okay  
I walked into the door again  
If you ask that's what I'll say  
And it's not your business anyway  
I guess I'd like to be alone  
With nothing broken, nothing thrown

Just don't ask me how I am  
Just don't ask me how I am  
Just don't…


End file.
